


like a far-fetched delight

by Anonymous



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Bickering, Canon Compliant, Crack Treated Seriously, Dr. STONE Manga Spoilers, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Marshmallows, Pre-Relationship, Talking, The Author Regrets Nothing, disaster flirt ukyo saionji
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29559660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Ukyo pondered the task he’d been given, and then pondered the sack of marshmallows, and then he had An Idea. Frankly, it was less of An Idea and more What Was Probably The Worst Two-Birds-One-Stone Solution To Ever Cross His Mind, but for all they knew they were all on the brink of death, anyway, so there was no harm to it, really.
Relationships: Hyouga/Saionji Ukyou
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13
Collections: Anonymous





	like a far-fetched delight

**Author's Note:**

> cw: references to drinking/inebriation, sensory overload experiences, references to/jokes about violence, death, canon typical mcd etc etc
> 
> MANGA SPOILERS. Set right before the Treasure Island Arc (literally the night before they set sail on the Perseus). 
> 
> A chunk of this (the ‘backstories’, scars etc) are pure conjecture, because we have very Little To Go By from canon. Yeah. I hope they give us information soon, because I would change the stuff ASAP if it did. 
> 
> UPDATE (25/02): When i said soon, I didn’t really expect it to mean THIS soon. I’m absolutely freaking out over the latest episode (bless you anime-only scenes) and am now attempting to incorporate the new knowledge we have gleaned into the existing plot of this (supposed) crack one shot because, honestly, it’s important enough to me. To be fair, it just made me cry more over Ukyo, and now hyokyo is even more fucked up in hindsight. But that’s what makes them so tasty. 
> 
> ALSO. When you see a number that looks like this : 1 , please click it. Yes, even (especially actually) if it's in the middle of the text. good omens stans you probably know where this is going. I also revised html at 2 in the morning to figure out how to do this. So yeah. I don't know why I do computer science either.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Okay, it wasn't that Ukyo _didn’t_ like parties. He enjoyed the atmosphere of it, the freefalling thrill of meeting and re-meeting people, and despite everything, he'd grown to treasure the company of the people he'd somehow ended up sticking to at the end of the world, enough to feel the same drive of joyful festivity when they'd achieved something monumental.

And oh, how far they'd come.

But there also came a limit for everything. And for Ukyo, that came somewhere between all the yelling for MORE SHOTS and everyone starting a dance chain around the campfire consisting of an awful amount of stomping and terrible, overwhelmingly _loud_ warbling to tunes that had been outdated for more than just those three millennia and--

Ukyo wasn't an idiot. He loved these people, truly, but they did have another life-threatening journey to set off on at the crack of dawn and while the rest of them might be happy to drink and sing their trepidation away, there was no harm in calling in an early night, especially when his senses needed to be attuned for the missions ahead. They'd all worked hard on the Perseus, too, and he'd take all the chances he got to have some peace and quiet.

Senkuu knew, obviously, because Senkuu knew everything, and he sent Ukyo off on his merry way with wishes of a good night and a cryptic offhand that he trusted Ukyo knew what he was doing, as well as handing him a sack of marshmallows for obligatory midnight-snacking. Ukyo stared at the bulging package, wondering when exactly they'd manage to cook up that much and why he'd ever need that much sugar for himself in one place, especially when he was coming off of sensory overload, and frankly he wasn't really sure what Senkuu was thinking, potentially sending their resident sonar man on a massive sugar high, but maybe that was just the collective drunken high spilling through. It also wasn't that he was complaining--the marshmallows were _very_ good, courtesy of Francois and their godly hands--and honestly it would just be nice to share them with someone without inviting in the company of the whole crowd--

Earlier, Senkuu had also asked him to to remind him to do something in case he forgot to do it himself in the morning. Ukyo seriously doubted he was even capable of forgetting, but looking at the size of the hangover he looked like he’d be having in the morning, it was probably a good idea he’d told someone else. Of course, the better explanation was that the kid had known this would happen, because of course he did.

Ukyo pondered the task he’d been given, and then pondered the sack of marshmallows, and then he had An Idea. Frankly, it was less of An Idea and more What Was Probably The Worst Two-Birds-One-Stone Solution To Ever Cross His Mind, but for all they knew they were all on the brink of death, anyway, so there was no harm to it, really.

Besides, it had been over a year, and if anything were to happen it would have already. It wasn't _dangerous_. Not really. But it also wasn't restful, which was what Ukyo had originally been aiming for.

Somehow, though, it Made Sense, and Ukyo had always been one to rely on intuition when it truly came down to it. [1](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29559660#nav1.1) This just seemed to be...an odd way of manifesting a sense of purpose. Usually it didn't lead him straight into the belly of the beast, as caged as the beast might be.

Ukyo looked down to find he was already halfway up the path to his newfound destination.

Huh. His legs had done all the work before the cognitive thought could even kick in. Damn his physical instincts; there was no turning back now.

The moonlight pooled at his feet, washing out onto the entrance of the cave. The pounding in his ear got louder, which technically wasn't supposed to happen, but a little bit of apprehension was probably advisable when dealing with unrepentant mass murderers. [2](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29559660#nav1.2)

‘Hey, Saionji,’ she said, before he'd even stepped into the inner cavern.

‘Hi, Momiji,’ Ukyo replied evenly. ‘Quiet night?’

Homura laughed. She did a lot more of that now, ever since they’d been given more comfortable accommodation—which is to say, ever since she got to redecorate her cell to her heart’s content after a record half-year of good behaviour. ‘When is it not? Wait, oh my god, are those _marshmallows_.’

‘Sure are,’ grinned Ukyo—Homura’d always had a sweet tooth. He emptied a portion of his sack onto a plate, and gave the rest of the sack to her. ‘Have your fill.’   
  
For all her viciousness and incredible skillset, Homura was extremely good conversation, once you’d gotten to know her. Sometimes, Ukyo wished they’d gotten closer in Tsukasa’s kingdom, but that was hardly feasible, what with both of them being top scouts and all that. Between the recon missions, though, if only they’d made more of an effort, Ukyo thought they could have become good friends. 

Instead, he’d gotten paired with Homura’s captain, and that had come with a barrage of things he hadn’t exactly bargained for when being revived 3700 years after modern romance had died.

Speaking of which.

‘I’m not who you’re really here for, though,’ she smiled through her second bite, looking meaningfully at the plate he was still holding. ‘You’re looking for him.’

'Homura, I literally have no idea what you're talking about.'

Homura snickered. ‘Don’t act innocent. I see you watching him all the time. Even for the short time I was around the Kingdom last year, you’d spend most of the time ogling him, even when he didn’t always speak to you.’

And there was no real way Ukyo could respond to that.

‘Go on, have your fun. He doesn’t actually hate you that much.’ 

‘Seriously, Homura? I’m just here to bring food.’ 

‘Well, he’s in his usual spot. Don’t tell me you don’t know where that is, either.’ [3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29559660#nav1.3)

Ukyo sighed and picked his plate up. ‘Goodnight, Homura,’ he called. ‘Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you get more comfortable.’

‘Thanks, Ukyo. You’re a nice guy.’ Homura gave a little wave. ‘See you around.’

At least Homura was responsive. It eased a little of the weight off Ukyo’s pattering chest as he moved deeper into the cave. [ 4 ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29559660#nav1.4)

At the very back of the cave was a corner that even the starlight couldn't reach. Of _course_ there would be a dark corner where even the starlight couldn't reach, because of course that was where he would be.

Ukyo knelt at the bars and frowned into the darkness. 'Why do you insist on staying in that damp corner? I know you're the dark and brooding type, but it's not really....conducive for anything. I thought you valued efficiency. This isn't exactly it.'

Silence. Ukyo waited, toying with a stray marshmallow. He was halfway to popping it into his mouth when the reply came, dry and raspy in a voice long-unused.

'I didn't realise you wanted to see my face that badly.'

Smiling a little despite himself, Ukyo stepped boldly closer. 'Well, for some reason, I'm here now, aren't I? Uh, you’re not going to try and murder me while I'm around, are you?’

‘I might,’ said the hulking shape by the far wall pensively, and Ukyo didn’t doubt that he was actually considering it. ‘But what of the opportunity? There are no weapons between the two of us except--' and suddenly Hyoga was _right there_ , across the cell and by the bars in less than the blink of an eye, faster than even Ukyo and his supposed super-senses could lock onto _Jesus Christ what are we feeding this man_ '--a plate of marshmallows, it seems. No, that would be senseless.’

Ukyo blinked at him. Hyoga was--well, he hadn't seen Hyoga this close up in a very long time. He pushed away lightly from the bars, attempting to lean casually on a large rock. ‘Ahem. Yes. The reason I came. Would you like one?’ he asked, gesturing casually to the plate. 'A marshmallow, I mean.'

Hyoga stared with that odd, wary squint of his at the marshmallows. Then he stared with that odd, wary squint of his at Ukyo. The silence started to get a little awkward.[5](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29559660#nav1.5)

Ukyo shifted into a more comfortable sitting position on his rock. ‘Okay, in retrospect, that does sound mildly suspicious. It's not poisoned, or anything, I promise. That wouldn't be a very smart assassination attempt.'

‘...What are you doing,’ said Hyoga flatly. 

'What, I thought you'd be good with that,' laughed Ukyo (god, what _was_ he doing), 'man with spear, you know? There's a correlation there. Talent for impaling things. Perfect for marshmallows.’

Hyoga put his head in his hands, clearly repressing some latent form of severe murderous intent. Ukyo accepted the concession with silent, unreserved glee.

‘You’re beginning to sound like Gen. Please stop that.’

'Oh, please. Gen is great, but the charisma is all mine, thanks.’

’Don’t play light-hearted with me,’ snapped Hyoga, evidently having run out of patience. ‘Get to the point. I'm not stupid, and neither are you. What are you _actually_ doing here? You didn’t come down here just to engage in light banter. Something’s going on.’

‘Well, I came to let you know that we’re setting sail tomorrow, and it was worth checking in on you. How long’s it been since anyone really came to see you, Hyoga?’

The features underneath Hyoga’s mask contorted into something that would probably classify as ugly if Ukyo didn’t know what Hyoga looked like underneath, which was most certainly _not_ ugly. ‘I see,’ he sneered. ‘You’re going to tell me you’re going to make us hitchhike along, because we’re too dangerous to be left under such lacklustre supervision, and Senkuu’s too smart for that.’

‘...Technically, I wasn’t supposed to be the one telling you. I was supposed to remind Senkuu to do it himself, but last I saw, he was busy belting Miki Matsubara into Suika’s helmet while performing some sort of acrobatic stunt on Ryusui’s shoulders—I don’t think he’s ever actually been drunk before—so I let him have his fun. He’s still a kid, after all, and a good guy, that Senkuu, but he doesn’t need to do _everything_.’

'Tell that to me, the one who got electrocuted by him.'

'Ah yeah. I nearly forgot about that. To be fair, you deserved it.'

Hyoga raised an eyebrow at him. Ukyo willed his pulse to stay in its place and stop jumping around haphazardly for all the wrong reasons. ‘I did. And you’re not there with them because—ah. Yes. Sensory overload. Your ears are as double-edged sword as they can get. It’s why I prefer spears, really.’

Ukyo couldn’t help but chuckle faintly at that. ‘Thanks for explaining so I wouldn’t have to. Still, how would you know? You’ve never seen me in a party.’ 

Hyoga shrugged. ‘I noticed. You never used to be at Tsukasa’s bonfires, and you liked to avoid crowds of too many people when you could.’

Hyoga had been the singular greatest threat to every side Ukyo had stood for ever since his revival; naturally, Ukyo had spent a great deal of time observing him. Somewhere along the line, it should have occurred to him that Hyoga might be doing the exact same thing.

Then again, Hyoga observed everyone [6](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29559660#nav1.6), and Ukyo just happened to be there.

‘I mean, I _was_ there for a while. Cut the ribbon and all that, but I knew it was going to get to be too much, so I excused myself just before it could, and I thought I might come pay you a visit. Let the guards go out and celebrate awhile, as well.’ Ukyo frowned. ‘You’re not eating the marshmallows. Are they not to your liking?’

Hyoga laughed. ‘I have a question for you,’ he said suddenly. ‘Where are your petrification marks? I’ve spent two years around you and I’ve never seen them.’

Ukyo’s smile turned coy. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know.’

‘Take your cap off,’ Hyoga challenged. ‘Strange to still be wearing it at night.’

‘Take your mask off,’ retorted Ukyo. ‘Strange to still be wearing it where no one can see you.’ 

Hyoga snorted. ‘Please. You’re hardly hideous, Ukyo.’ 

‘Speak for yourself,' Ukyo muttered, just as Hyoga pulled his mask down.

Ukyo didn't mean to stare. Really, he didn't, but he must have been, because eventually Hyoga's too-pretty mouth scrunched up in perplexion, and there came a point where even Ukyo didn't really understand _why_ he felt like he had to hide it, because god Hyoga was _beautiful_ , especially when everyone knew what he looked like underneath anyway--and he was almost tempted to ask, but he didn’t need to, for the same reason Hyoga didn’t need to _._

Because Ukyo knew.

'I would show you the ones around my throat, too, but it's cold and I really quite like this cape and the increased security it gives me from the possibility of you taking the chance while staring so intently and strangling me,' Hyoga remarked drily, snapping Ukyo out of his trance.

'I wouldn't do that,' said Ukyo immediately, choosing very rationally to shove down the oxymoronic and horrifyingly strong desire to persuade Hyoga to _show_ , to reach through the bars and rip the stupid cape aside and see _more_.

Instead, he removed his cap and slung it onto his belt, shifting so the blue of the moonlight would strike in the right spot. 

Hyoga's eyes widened slightly, gaze tracing the back of Ukyo's scalp all the way down his neck. At least now, Ukyo wasn't the one staring, but suddenly Hyoga's breath was so close it could have brushed the little tufts of hair at Ukyo's nape aside, and the resounding shudder made him grip at the bunched-up feathers on his tunic, but he didn't move.

He trusted Hyoga. 

Ukyo recalled with sudden and alarming clarity a work of art he'd read about once, where a couple--some Eastern European husband and wife--had created a piece of art out of their own bodies. They'd stood for hours on end, completely in the nude, at an entrance, forming a doorway, and even as strangers struggled to pass through, as crowds huddled together to watch the phenomenon, all they had eyes for were each other.

That was how it felt, now, sitting across from Hyoga: stripped bare to the very bark, waiting for the other to bite; yet at the same time, like it was just the two of them braving the roar of the deadnight tide and the continued, faint hollering from the beach below with their shared silence in a way that was almost comfortable.

Ukyo was lucky to recognise this feeling. He knew he was lucky, because he felt this sort of comfort regularly around the people of this kingdom. But he hadn't felt _this_ comfortable baring himself to someone since...well, since his revival, really. He wondered how long it had been since Hyoga had felt like this, if Hyoga even felt the same way at all.

But when he peeled his eyes off their fixation on his knees, he saw Hyoga simply watching him, and for the first time Ukyo saw there was no malice or concern or even real motive in his eyes at all--there was just genuine, disarmingly awestruck curiosity, and he remembered, then, just how _young_ he was, how young they both were when everything about them had fallen away.

For one blindingly stupid moment, Ukyo wanted to kiss him. Instead, he said, ‘The last thing I remember before getting petrified was stretching my arms out after exiting our submarine.’

Hyoga’s gaze turned to linger on the far end of the cavern wall, but his eyes were careful and attentive. He was listening; the spell wasn't broken just yet. Ukyo continued. 

'I was revived before you, so you wouldn’t know, but I was washed ashore, apparently. I suppose I was lucky that I’d just gotten off duty. I still honestly have no idea how Tsukasa found me—maybe he just did it at random, like _Oh jeez, yeah, here’s where the docks were, why don’t we dig some random guy up and take our chances and call it a day?_ Rational guy, that Tsukasa, vowing to only revive the best and then digging up people at random. I mean thugs? A cop? Really? No offense to Yo, but—yeah. I didn't get the guy sometimes.‘

‘And he was also well-versed in placing his trust in the the wrong people,' muttered Hyoga with less scorn than Ukyo was expecting. The way his mouth moved as he spoke was hypnotising. ‘I thought speaking ill of the dead wasn’t to your fancy.’

‘I don't, but Tsukasa _did_ do plenty of terrible stuff, and besides, soon enough he won't be dead, so I'd say this is alright.'

Hyoga's next words came in a soft, almost wistful quietude. ‘You have too much faith.’

Ukyo couldn't help but lift his head up slightly at that. 'So I do, and what about it? It's what's gotten us this far.

'Anyway, on with my story. I guess that at some point, something cracked the back of my head open, because now I've ended up with--' he gestured vaguely to the back of his neck, rubbing it slightly in a vain attempt to scrub off the last deep, aching trace of Hyoga's scrutiny--‘this. I'm used to having hat hair, obviously, so it wasn't too much of a bother to keep my cap on. And having that, a little bit of my old life on me at all times...it was less that I was hiding something, and more that I had a familiar weight, kind of like an anchor. It kept my head together, you know? It helped when things were falling apart, when all I wanted to do was go back to a home that no longer existed.'

Hyoga didn't look at him. Ukyo thought of Hyoga's spear, the last thing he had from the old world and quite possibly the last person in the world who would ever bear it the same way he did. The way he carried his inheritance on his back like a second skin. 

'I'm guessing it's the same for you, too.'

He gave a slight shrug, didn't attempt to kill him for going too personal, and that was more than good enough for Ukyo.

'Woohoo,' he mumbled faintly. 'Icebreakers.’ He pushed the plate over. ‘Now there’s nothing stopping you from having that marshmallow.’

Hyoga studied the plate intently, as if expecting ants to come up and crawl all over them and swallow them whole. Ukyo studied Hyoga intently, the way the jagged litheness of his scars cast strange attention to his mouth against the midnight shadow, and dearly wished the ants would swallow _him_ whole. 'Are you sure this isn't an assassination attempt?' the man said finally. 'You're being very insistent.'

Ukyo cocked his head. 'I just needed someone to share the rest of these marshmallows with. And besides, you know I hate having to deal with death.'

Seemingly convinced, Hyoga picked one up deftly and gave it a little lick, tongue flicking out quickly to catch the sweet powder before it could fall and dust all over his bare knees and _oh Jesus if that didn't do things to Ukyo_ before nodding almost subconsciously in approval and plopping the whole thing in his mouth. His breath caught slightly, bittersweet, on the taste of it--Ukyo could almost hear the pure, crystalline sugar melting into something ancient and untainted on his bloodstained self, something long faded like summer memories.

He thought it sounded a little sad. 

Hyoga picked up with a second marshmallow, looking suddenly like he craved it so much he could drown in it. 'Your mission's accomplished. You have no reason to still be around, and yet you're making no move to get up and go.'

Ukyo shrugged. 'You’re quiet, and I don’t mind your company. Do you want me to go?’

Hyoga didn't answer that, but he did turn to face Ukyo, a new fistful of marshmallows having materialised seemingly out of nowhere. 'Why _do_ you?'

'Why do I what?'

'Hate death. You seek to avoid bloodshed so much, yet you served in the army.'

Ukyo sighed. 'Being in the military exposes you to...a lot of really fucked up people, as I'm sure you can imagine. I was good at my work, less good at dealing with the kind of...incessant bloodlust that seemed to come with the expectations of serving. I never--I think in a weird way, I grew to value life more. We're both liars and traitors but that’s the biggest difference between us, isn't it?'

Hyoga chewed on his marshmallows thoughtfully. Then he said, 'I asked him to revive some of those goons. People who didn’t matter. He trusted me with it.'

'And then you betrayed him with that. You let them die.'

'Yeah. I'm despicable like that, I suppose. And I felt like you should know that in case you wanted to waste the next half of the night talking it out with me.'

Ukyo considered it, and he decided that if they were to defeat the ultimate evil that had petrified the entire world, it was worth leaving it to later judgement; if anything, he appreciated Hyoga for his honesty. 'No, obviously I don’t agree with you. I mean, ideologically. Your ideology is kinda stupid. But _you’re_ not stupid.'

Hyoga snorted. And then he said, 'I don’t believe he did that. Tsukasa, he wouldn't have revived you randomly.'

'No?'

'You are very capable, Ukyo, and I’m sure your reputation preceded you. In fact, I’d say that you’re a supremely undervalued member of the Kingdom.’

‘If this is a ploy to sway me to your side, sorry, but I don’t buy it. I know my own self-worth, thanks very much. How did he know you, anyway? Tsukasa, I mean.'

'We...met. Several times. Our circles interacted fairly closely. I represented our academy in official business; usually, he was there for the performative stuff. He'd always been a book-smart guy. Pity his talents were wasted like that.'

Huh. Something about that didn’t sound quite right to Ukyo. Hyoga would've been a little young to be official representative, unless--Tsukasa had done his best to round up all the existing families; Ukyo's own had been going on vacation overseas when the beam had struck. Hyoga had only had Homura.

Hyoga's voice was low. 'I can hear your thoughts from here, you know. But no. There was no one I could miss. I'm not sentimental like Tsukasa was.'

Too low. Hyoga was clearly lying. 'Do you really see sentimentality as that much of a weakness?'

'It's far too easily exploited. That is this Kingdom's biggest flaw. The ship. What’s it like?’

Ukyo couldn’t help but smile—both at the abrupt change of topic, and at the mention of the _Perseus_. ‘Beautiful,’ he said. ‘She's a real beauty. You'd think so too when you see it.'

'Which is in less than twelve hours, and the ship was built by the people who kept me prisoner for a year,' deadpanned Hyoga. 

'It's good work. You love that sort of thing. Just look at yourself.'

'If your compliment of my physique is a ploy to sway me to _your_ side, I'm not buying it.'[7](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29559660#nav1.7)

Ukyo laughed. ‘Well, okay, I’m not lying; for your part, you _are_ fucking hot. Tell you what. You break out of here, the first thing you do is have a proper fireside meal with me.'

Hyoga glanced sceptically at their much lighter plate of prehistoric ( _post_ historic?) marshmallows. ‘This hardly constitutes a proper meal.’

‘I move to disagree, but sure, I’ll treat you to one.’ Fuck, why was he getting defensive? It wasn’t like he wanted it _that_ badly. 

‘You do realise that the first thing that will likely happen once I break out of this prison is that I’ll kill all of you, right?’

‘You might, if you got your spear back,’ smiled Ukyo. ‘But you could also hold off until we get another big campfire again. You’re a man of your word. Make that deal with me, and I’ll get you all the marshmallows you want. I mean, if you ever get the chance to find out. And knowing you, you probably will.'

And that was when Ukyo realised what precisely was off. The smoke from the bonfire below had gone down, seemingly a while ago. There was no more noise, the fun and games were over and Ukyo had most likely overstayed his welcome.

He dusted himself down. ‘Well, this has been fun and all, but I do need to get going. Big day, tomorrow.'

Hyoga smirked, maskless and gorgeous in the waning moonlight. 'Best get going, then, before I do something drastic like snap your neck.'

Ukyo grinned back, thankful for the loss of tension. 'Yeah. Hey.'

Hyoga was looking at him again, and Ukyo knew this was his last chance.

'Maybe you'll change your mind about all this, one day. I know you think you'd be compromising yourself if you did, but it's not really a question anymore about what sides we're all on when we're fighting something bigger than all of us. Last time, we fought a pretty bloodless war, but if one happens again where we aren't so lucky....we'd be glad to count you as an ally.'

Hyoga, who'd been oddly unresponsive to what could well be taken as a provocation, said, ‘Bullshit.’

'Maybe, but not to me, and I trust your judgement,' said Ukyo simply, and that was true. He reached under the slot between them to pick up the empty plate. 'And it sounds false, but I think the rest of the team does, too. We're strong. _Really_ strong, but we'd be so much stronger with you. You're a smart guy, Hyoga. You'll at least consider it. And I think we'd be good for you, too.'

His fingers brushed against the coolness of gloved leather as they curled around the plate. 

Hyoga's hand had somehow found its way over his. For a second, the world came to a standstill. 

Hyoga gulped slightly, and Ukyo felt more than heard it like a wave thrumming through every cell in his body, drifting and settling at the pit of his stomach—a lone signal enough to change the course of the tides. Ukyo would chase it to the ends of the earth, _wanted_ to, but not tonight; there were bigger things to do, life threatening journeys to set off on at the crack of dawn, and this would happen, naturally as it did, somewhere, sometime. It would, because the world depended on it.

And something told him the tides had already changed.8

He squeezed the plate lightly, and that seemed to get his cue through.

The strength that pushed his hand back through was moulded and careful, _gentle,_ lingering on his wrist like the last flick of candlesmoke before it gave out to the wind. The voice that came next was—well, it was—

'You surprised me tonight, Ukyo Saionji.’

Well, shit.

Tipping his hat as he stood, he echoed: 'Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m looking forward to you finding a way to surprise _me_.' 

8And maybe in the end it was the marshmallows, maybe it was the simple lightness of a moonlit night in well-spent company, but in the end, it was Hyoga's last, almost imperceptible reply--but it must have been uttered for Ukyo to hear, because he wouldn't have said it out loud otherwise--that, _that_ made him smile all the way back down to the shoreline, the tip of his tongue tasting weightless and sweet like acknowledgement, as if by the grace of a bloodless kiss.

'Maybe I will.'

* * *

1 A lot of people would say that was his biggest flaw. The military had done so, but then again he'd always been prized for his senses, so that was a fairly redundant opinion coming from them. [ return to text ]

2 That being said, Ukyo had spent an entire year around a kingdom of them, and then a lifetime before that in the service of the navy, and he was more than capable of holding his own; definitely against a heart that couldn't seem to just shut up. [ return to text ]

3 They'd planned to move the two further apart as soon as they had cleared out more of the cave. It was deemed too dangerous to let them conspire, something along those lines, but Ukyo himself had raised that there was little sense to it--after all, there was nothing they were able to achieve under these conditions anyway. And despite everything, Ukyo did find it a little unfair to deny them at least some common company. In the end, though, some form of democratic vote prevailed, and they got relocated to different quarters. [ return to text ]

4 He followed the breathing, which, thankfully, was the same as it had always been: muffled slightly, a bit like a less cartoon-savvy Darth Vader, but always clear, calm, decisively paced like the man whose breath it belonged to. Somewhere along the line, Ukyo would have to consider how exactly he had become familiar enough with breathing patterns, especially this particular one, but it _was_ a good thing for surveillance purposes and all that. After all, Ukyo’s skills were simply based on a matter of perspective. [ return to text ]

5 What made it more awkward was that Hyoga, as anyone with eyes would know, was incredibly attractive, even after spending a year in prison what the _hell_ and honestly, Ukyo was unabashedly proud of himself for not backing down from that gaze--two could play at the intensity game, and Ukyo certainly played it well in his own right. Still, even Ukyo was not immune to what only made his heart pound harder in his ears and his throat suddenly empty out, what with all the blood making its way to his cheeks. Goddamn senses. The lack of a strong light source was suddenly very reassuring. [ return to text ]

6  Not strictly true. Hyoga kept tabs on everyone he deemed interesting and important, and Ukyo was irrefutably both. It also helped that he was easy on the eyes. [ return to text ]

7 At about the same time, Ukyo had the sudden thought that Hyoga would look fantastic in leather, which was to say he would look fantastic in anything he wore, even when wearing nothing at all, which was something Ukyo knew for a fact due to Tsukasa’s old communal sauna areas, and now this knowledge was his burden to bear. [ return to text ]

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t published anything for nearly a year and then I read dr stone in two days. That was a week ago. Now I have this. Please help me.
> 
> A couple of things:
> 
> 1\. This started out as crack. This is still very much crack. That’s why the title is a Katy Perry song lyric (it's actually a funky fic title as well tbh). I just made them bond over their feelings along the way. 
> 
> 2\. I also kind of wanted to see the thought process behind Hyoga choosing to side with Senkuu after getting Revived Electric Boogaloo, and I think it would be nice if he had a conversation prior to that which might have factored into changing his mind. Why Ukyo? Because he is a good banterer, and a great listener (haHA), and Hyokyo is an excellent ship that is Severely Lacking In Content. Also, this scenario makes sense, and I like stuff that can be passed off as canon compliant. (This is still crack)
> 
> 3\. I also love the fact they're the only two proper fully-fledged adults in the main cast who were actually in their 20s in the old world. I think that's hilarious. they are both just Old people dealing with a bunch of rowdy teenagers. I love them. (They are in their 20s.) They Are Old Men And I Love Them. (Which is very funny, because the line I enjoyed writing the most was the one about them being young, despite being in a world where they are literally the oldest main characters from the old world) Anyway yeah they can vibe with each other as well as vibing with the youth I support them so much
> 
> Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed! I definitely plan to write more for them in the future :DD comments and kudos are greatly appreciated (ノ^∇^)
> 
> Addendum: This fic is dedicated to Anna, who wrote an [ absolutely jawdropping tsukasen ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29479944), so I’m writing them this right back. and this is also dedicated to the writers of the two (2) hyokyo fics in the tag, whom I have massive amounts of respect for. Finally, this is dedicated to everyone who reads this. Yes, you. You are a beautiful person and I hope you have an amazing life


End file.
